Blossom Street Brides Read Online Free PDF Page B

and Lauren exhaled as she slipped her cellphone back into her purse.
    “Well?” Elisa asked after an awkward moment. “How’d that work for you?”
    Lauren snorted softly and shook her head. “He called me a
thing
.”
    “A thing?”
    “He said I was the best
thing
that had ever happened to him. I’m a woman with a heart and with feelings and with dreams, and those dreams don’t mesh with his.”
    “Oh, Lauren.” Elisa stood and gently patted her back. “I wish I knew what to say.”
    “You don’t need to say anything. It’s been a long time coming. I should have ended it last year.”
    “Listen,” Elisa said, perking up considerably. “I want you to fly to Vegas with me for the gem show next month.”
    “But I thought you were going with Garry?” Lauren had attended before, and it was an amazing show. For the last couple of years she’d looked after the store while Elisa and Garry were away.
    “Garry suggested it might be good for the two of us to have some girl time. Besides, he really isn’t all that keen on Vegas.”
    “I’d love it.”
    “We both could use a break.”
    Time away was exactly what she needed. She looked at her friend and laughed. “Let me at that
Wheel of Fortune
slot machine.”
    “And remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
    Maybe for others, but Lauren tended to live on the tame side of town. Then again, maybe she should kick up her heels.

Chapter Four
    “I’m so sorry I didn’t call you back,” Bethanne told Max while he clung to the telephone receiver in his Sonoma Valley office. He hated that living apart made this form of communication with his wife a necessity.
    “It’s just that oh—Max, please don’t be upset with me,” she said.
    Max exhaled, doing his best to hold back his irritation. Bethanne had been with her ex, and while Max hated to sound insecure and jealous, that was exactly how he felt. He didn’t trust Grant Hamlin for an inch when it came to Bethanne. The other man had made his intentions clear. Grant wanted Bethanne back in his life. Furthermore, he was willing to do anything necessary to undermine their marriage.
    “So apparently Grant was with you for quite some time.” Max had waited up half the night to hear back from Bethanne. When she didn’t call, it left his mind open to speculation. He could well imagine what Grant had thought up this time to keep Bethanne occupied.
    “Max, I am so sorry. I meant to call you first thing this morning, but I had three phone calls before I even got into the office, and then I had one meeting after another all day. A new balloon company is trying to get my business, and their representative was with me a full hour, and then Annie needed help planning a huge party function for the Boeing Company. It’s been crazy around here. Before I knew it, the entire day had evaporated and it was after six. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.” She continued to offer him a litany of excuses.
    “You didn’t answer the question,” Max reminded her.
    Bethanne hesitated, and then on a breathless note confessed, “I can’t remember the question.”
    “You and Grant. Just how long was he at the house?”
    “Oh … that question.”
    “Yes, that question.” Rooster walked into Max’s office, and, seeing that Max was on the phone, started to leave. Max didn’t think this conversation would last much longer, not in his current frame of mind, at any rate. He was annoyed and frustrated, so he gestured for Rooster to take a seat, which his friend did. Rooster lounged back in the chair and crossed his long legs, balancing his ankle over his knee.
    “Did I hear someone come into your office?” Bethanne asked.
    “Rooster. You’re avoiding the question, which tells me I’m not going to like the answer.”
    “You probably won’t. Grant and I went out to dinner to celebrate Andrew and Courtney’s news.”
    “Just the two of you?”
    “Yes. It didn’t mean anything, Max. I was married to Grant for